


Their Second Gala (Cause The First One Went "SO" Well)

by RichardGraysonPercyJackson



Series: The Acrobat and The Mercenary [58]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family Bonding, M/M, do I need more?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 23:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20938715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RichardGraysonPercyJackson/pseuds/RichardGraysonPercyJackson
Summary: Slade and Dick attend their second gala despite the headlines following the first.





	Their Second Gala (Cause The First One Went "SO" Well)

Slade glanced up from his book when the bedroom door opened and Dick walked in, kicking off his shoes before throwing himself on the bed and burying his face in the pillow.

“You’ll need to put your shoes where they belong,” Slade told him calmly, turning his eye back to his book.

“I know,” Dick mumbled, voice muffled by the pillow. “In a minute.”

Slade hummed, picking up his phone from the bedside table and setting an alarm for it to go off in sixty seconds.

“It’s been a minute,” he said calmly when the alarm went off.

Dcik groaned quiety, peeling himself up and flopping onto the floor, laying there like a dead fish before crawling on his hands and knees to his shoes. Slade watched, amused, as Dick chucked his shoes against the wall and even though that wasn’t where they belonged, they were at least out of the way.

“Bad day?” he asked, closing his book on his thumb to keep his place as he watched Dick climb back onto the bed.

“Mm hmm,” the acrobat replied, eyes closed.

Slade smiled, reaching out to stroke his fingers through Dick’s thick hair, the acrobat practically melting into the touch.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked gently.

“No,” Dick replied, shifting so his head was turned to face Slade though his eyes stayed closed. “I’m not going on patrol.”

“Can I do something to help?”

Dick lazily shrugged his shoulders so Slade set his book aside for the moment and moved down the bed to lay next on his stomach next to Dick, head pillowed on his arms.

As he’d expected, the movement drew his husband’s curiosity and Dick cracked an eye open with a frown.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m laying with you,” Slade replied.

Dick made an inquisitive noise, narrowing his eyes. “Why?”

Slade barked out a laugh. “If you think I’m trying to get something from you, then we should probably reassess the last give years of our marriage.”

“You were reading is all,” Dick told him, flopping onto his back and placing his hands on his belly, exposed as his shirt rode up. He watched as Slade sat up and moved to brace his arms on either side of Dick’s head, hovering over the acrobat.

“I was reading, but then my husband came home,” Slade told him, bending down to peck a gentle kiss to Dick’s forehead. “And he had a bad day, so I thought I’d give him some attention. He’s like a cat that way, you see. They just love attention.”

Dick scoffed and rolled his eyes though there was a small smile playing on his face.

“Shut up, I am not.”

Slade hmmed. “No, you are. Cats want attention and  _ you _ , my little bird, are always so desperate for attention.” he smiled as he lowered himself down slightly, still careful to keep his considerable bulk off of Dick’s slender frame. “It’s one of the reasons I love you.”

Dick’s face burned and anyone outside of the two of them would have found it hard to believe that they’d been married for three years, especially since Dick still acted like a blushing virgin whenever Slade got  _ really _ romantic.

Which was more often than people seemed to think.

“How was your day?” Dick asked quietly once his face had stopped burning. Slade smiled, rolling off of Dick and hauling acrobat up so Slade could lean against the headboard of the bed with Dick tucked to his side.

“Boring, without you,” Slade replied, rubbing his hand over Dick’s arm. “I had meetings with clients but it was otherwise uneventful.” he let them fall into silence for a few moments, moving his hand up to stroke through Dick’s hair before he asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about your day?”

Dick sighed softly, flinging an arm over Slade’s waist. “Not now,” he replied quietly. “Just…” he shook his head. “Not now.” he paused for a few moments before asking, “Did you ever have any brothers or sisters?”

“I did, yes,” he replied. “I had a younger half brother, Wade.”

Dick’s lips ticked up in a small smile as he looked up at Slade. “Wade and Slade?” he asked.

Slade rolled his eyes. “Laugh it up,” he muttered.

Dick did for a few moments before settling down. “What was he like?”

“He was angry,” Slade replied. “At me, mostly. He resented me and I’d say he even felt inferior to me.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Slade replied. “I looked out for him during childhood. But he still hated me.”

“He kind of sounds like Jason,” Dick murmured.

Slade nodded his agreement before asking, “Were your brothers the problem today?”

“I wouldn’t call my brothers a problem,” Dick murmured. “I would say they contributed to it though.”

“Did Todd try to throw one of them again?”

“He didn’t try, he succeeded,” Dick corrected. “He threw Damian and we’re all just lucky Bruce caught him.”

“Brothers can be infuriating,” Slade told him. “But they’re not all bad.”

“Did your brother get better?”

Slade huffed a laugh. “No, he abducted my sons twice and was the ultimate reason Adeline and I divroce as well as part of the reason Joseph lost his voice.”

“I’m sorry,” Dick rushed to say. “I didn’t mean to ask.”

“You couldn’t have known, little bird,” Slade told him gently. “It’s not something I choose to talk about often.”

“Still…”

“Do your brothers know they upset you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m sure they’ll make it up to you.”

…………………….

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

“We already know their opinion, little bird,” Slade murmured. “And yet I think you’re more nervous now than you were before.”

“Yeah, cause before they didn’t know we were engaged,” Dick replied with a huff, letting his arms drop to the sides as Slade stood behind him, reaching around to adjust the tie Dick just kept making worse. “Now we’re married. God, I can’t  _ imagine _ what tomorrow’s headline is going to say.”

“Can’t be anything worse than last time, right?” Slade asked, pressing a kiss to the side of Dick’s head, rubbing his hands over his husband’s shoulders.

“True, I suppose,” Dick murmured. “They’re going to ask a lot of questions.”

“They know who I am,” Slade replied as they made their way to the car. “They won’t dare.”

…………………….

They did dare.

“Mr. Grayson, is it true you are legally married to Deathstroke the Terminator?”

“Mr. Grayson, is he blackmailing you?”

“Mr. Grayson.”

“Mr. Grayson.”

“Mr-”

“Alright, alright, back off,” Jason drawled, shoving his way through the crowd to grab Dick and Slade by the arms, dragging them into the ballroom and towards Bruce. “Vultures.”

Dick gave a breathless laugh. “Thanks Jay,” he said, embracing his brother.

“No problem but you owe me,” Jason returned as they made their way to Bruce, Tim, and Damian. “B may not like your relationship but he’s not going to let them eat you alive. Security has been ordered to not let a single reporter in.”

“That means a lot, thank you Bruce,” Dick said with a smile.

Bruce merely grunted before throwing on his patented playboy smile and striding over to greet a few approaching guests.

…………………………

The gala...could have been  _ worse _ , Dick decided. He and Slade had socialized when they’d needed to but Tim or Jason or Damian were always somewhere nearby the  _ minute _ someone looked like they were about to say something rude.

So as the gala was wrapping up, Jason approached. “Hey, B’s going on patrol but the rest of us are staying in. Tim suggested we invite you and your lover. Mostly as an apology for the other day.”

Dick rolled his eyes while Slade merely chuckled at his side. “We’re married, Jason,” Dick reminded him.

“So?” Jason asked. “Doesn’t mean you’re not lovers.”

Dick opened his mouth to object but Slade cut him off. “He’s got a point.”

Dick sighed before looking over at Slade. “Up to you.”

“They’re you’re family,” Slade reminded him. “If you want to spend time with them, you’re more than welcome to.”

“I know that,” Dick replied. “I just meant it’s up to you if you want to go home or stay too. They’re your family now too, remember?”

“And you are invited,” Jason chimed in.

Slade hummed, reaching down to intertwine his fingers with Dick’s. “Why not?” he asked. “It’s not like we have anything else to do and I’d love to get to know my brothers-in-law.”

Damian made a quiet gagging noise behind Jason, drowned out by Dick’s laughter.

“Sweet,” Jason said. “You should both have some clothes in Dick’s old room so we’re all going to change then meet in the theatre.”

“Are you staying just because I am or because you genuinely want to get to know my brothers better?” Dick asked, eyebrow raised as he and Slade made their way upstairs.

“Whichever one makes you happy, little bird.”

“But which is the truth?”

“Both.”

**Author's Note:**

> One more short and then the series is over.
> 
> Don't worry, the final one is gonna be cute!!


End file.
